Bitpanda has closed its Series B funding round, raising $170 million and gaining the status of a  Unicorn  Unicorn Unicorns represent privately held startup companies whose value exceeds $1 billion. The term itself was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee back in 2013, with Unicorns since assuming the gold standard of companies.At the time of writing, approximately 465 unicorns exist, with standouts becoming ubiquitous in everyday life. This includes Ant Financial, DiDi, Airbnb, Stripe, Lyft, and Palantir Technologies, among many others.While all wildly successful, many unicorns are themselves the products of company buyouts, given its existing designation.For example, many of these companies’ valuation has swelled due to buyouts from large public companies. This has proven to be a recursive trend in with major industry players such as Apple, Facebook, and Google focusing on acquisitions rather than capital expenditures and development of internal investment projects.This strategy has played out over the past few years with large companies opting to instead augment their own technology portfolio via buyouts, rather than in-house developments.Unicorns Benefitting from New TechnologyOf note, many unicorns have succeeded without launching their own Initial Product Offering (IPOs), which run multiple risks. Traditionally, many large brands and companies have relied on such stock offerings as a means to bolster valuation and raise money. However, IPOs can result in the evaluation of a company if the public market thinks a company is worth less than its investor base.Unicorns also have benefitted from other factors, including the availability of new technology. Social media in this sense has been an integral component to unicorns’ success, helping achieve economies of scale.Furthermore, the advent of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology, platforms, and cloud computing has also played a key role in the growth of unicorns. Unicorns represent privately held startup companies whose value exceeds $1 billion. The term itself was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee back in 2013, with Unicorns since assuming the gold standard of companies.At the time of writing, approximately 465 unicorns exist, with standouts becoming ubiquitous in everyday life. This includes Ant Financial, DiDi, Airbnb, Stripe, Lyft, and Palantir Technologies, among many others.While all wildly successful, many unicorns are themselves the products of company buyouts, given its existing designation.For example, many of these companies’ valuation has swelled due to buyouts from large public companies. This has proven to be a recursive trend in with major industry players such as Apple, Facebook, and Google focusing on acquisitions rather than capital expenditures and development of internal investment projects.This strategy has played out over the past few years with large companies opting to instead augment their own technology portfolio via buyouts, rather than in-house developments.Unicorns Benefitting from New TechnologyOf note, many unicorns have succeeded without launching their own Initial Product Offering (IPOs), which run multiple risks. Traditionally, many large brands and companies have relied on such stock offerings as a means to bolster valuation and raise money. However, IPOs can result in the evaluation of a company if the public market thinks a company is worth less than its investor base.Unicorns also have benefitted from other factors, including the availability of new technology. Social media in this sense has been an integral component to unicorns’ success, helping achieve economies of scale.Furthermore, the advent of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology, platforms, and cloud computing has also played a key role in the growth of unicorns. Read this Term startup with $1.2 billion in valuation, the Austrian crypto  Exchange   Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectively relevant with real-time pricing.Depending upon where you reside, an exchange may be referred to as a bourse or a share exchange while, as a whole, exchanges are present within the majority of countries. Who is Listed on an Exchange?As trading continues to transition more to electronic exchanges, transactions become more dispersed through varying exchanges. This in turn has caused a surge in the implementation of trading algorithms and high-frequency trading applications. In order for a company to be listed on a stock exchange for example, a company must divulge information such as minimum capital requirements, audited earnings reports, and financial reports.Not all exchanges are created equally, with some outperforming other exchanges significantly. The most high-profile exchanges to date include the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), the London Stock Exchange (LSE), and the Nasdaq. Outside of trading, a stock exchange may be used by companies aiming to raise capital, this is most commonly seen in the form of initial public offerings (IPOs).Exchanges can now handle other asset classes, given the rise of cryptocurrencies as a more popularized form of trading. An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectively relevant with real-time pricing.Depending upon where you reside, an exchange may be referred to as a bourse or a share exchange while, as a whole, exchanges are present within the majority of countries. Who is Listed on an Exchange?As trading continues to transition more to electronic exchanges, transactions become more dispersed through varying exchanges. This in turn has caused a surge in the implementation of trading algorithms and high-frequency trading applications. In order for a company to be listed on a stock exchange for example, a company must divulge information such as minimum capital requirements, audited earnings reports, and financial reports.Not all exchanges are created equally, with some outperforming other exchanges significantly. The most high-profile exchanges to date include the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), the London Stock Exchange (LSE), and the Nasdaq. Outside of trading, a stock exchange may be used by companies aiming to raise capital, this is most commonly seen in the form of initial public offerings (IPOs).Exchanges can now handle other asset classes, given the rise of cryptocurrencies as a more popularized form of trading. Read this Term announced on Tuesday.

The press release shared with Finance Magnates detailed that the funding round was led by Valar Ventures and saw participation from the partners of DST Global.

Commenting on the funding, Bitpanda Co-Founder and CEO, Eric Demuth said: “Becoming Austria’s first unicorn is a great achievement, and I’m incredibly proud of the team for everything we have accomplished over the past few years. It is yet another endorsement in our vision to give everyone more access and greater control over their financial future, on their terms, no matter their financial means.”

Pan-European Expansion

The fresh funding came when Bitpanda is aggressively expanding its footprint across Europe. Last year, it entered France, Spain, Turkey, Italy and Poland and is now planning to have a presence in Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, London and Berlin.

The crypto exchange recently upgraded its Austrian PSD2 license and gained the status of an investment firm. It registered in France with the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), which allows the company to offer regulated services as a French digital asset service provider (DASP).

Furthermore, the exchange revealed that its user base grew to over 2 million, and its revenue for the first two months of 2021 surpassed the entire revenue of last year though no numbers were shared.

“Retail investors will soon be able to access an even larger range of digital assets, and we already have plans in place to bring our offer to several new markets. Our goal is to continue leading the digital investment revolution in Europe and to help people build the confidence and knowledge to be in charge of their financial future. Our partners and this round will enable us to do that, and more,” Demuth added.